The Biden administration is actively pushing Congress to require banks to report to the Internal Revenue Service on the account activity of a huge swath of Americans. This unwarranted snooping would be an invasion of privacy, and lawmakers should make sure it doesn’t happen.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and the IRS have asked Congress to mandate banks send along annual inflows and outflows from accounts with at least $600 or $600 worth of transactions. That’s a low bar that would expose the majority of bank accounts to additional scrutiny.
The administration claims this would allow the IRS to conduct audits more efficiently.
In reality, it’s all about the federal government trying to squeeze Americans for additional tax dollars in an effort to fund Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget wish list. Or as Yellen phrased it in a letter to Congress, the government has “a shortage of necessary funds for key national priorities.” Biden officials estimate this could bring in upwards of $400 billion over a decade.
This is a sleazy way to go about it, and it offends Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure. Taking all these records and sifting through them for possible audits is an incredible overreach and an unprecedented invasion of the privacy of untold millions of Americans.
It’s also none of the federal government’s business.
Business and banking groups are pushing back hard, as are some state legislatures.
The Small Business Association of Michigan and the Michigan Bankers Association are among them. The proposal would be cumbersome for financial institutions to implement, and they have raised concerns about how this could put the financial information of consumers at risk.
Rann Paynter, president and CEO of the Michigan Bankers Association, says the plan would hamper both financial institutions and consumers.
“It’s certainly a burden to the holders of those accounts, and an invasion of privacy to Americans for that type of information to be shared with the IRS,” he says. “It’s a lot of information to provide to the government that is not necessary.”
Paynter notes that if the IRS is concerned about some individuals or businesses avoiding their share of taxes, the agency already has the tools it needs to investigate.
The pushback has caused House Democrats to put aside the proposal for now — at least in its existing form. They are still considering a version that would impact fewer people.
U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint, has noted the concern over the negative impact this could have on low-income Americans, whom Democrats purport to want to help. Yet Kildee, who is on the Ways and Means Committee, also said the issue isn’t “completely gone,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
Given the invasiveness of the proposal, it needs to go away. Congress should ignore the demands of the Biden administration and make sure this extraordinary approach to tracking of the bank accounts of average Americans never happens.
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The “Socialist Democrat Party State” political officers, Gestapo, Woke and Cancel Culture are just getting started.
You will obey, be loyal and support the “Socialist Democrat Party State” or you will be classified as
“Enemies of the State”.
IAW the socialist Democrat party, your money IS NOT your money.
It all belongs to the socialist Democrat Party who gets to decides how much you can have.
Check out Hunter bin Biden’s transaction first and take what you need from there.
Mike Livo : Can’t – Hunter bin Biden’s money is in Chinese Banks.
IMO This will do one thing. DRIVE PEOPLE TO DEAL ONLY In cash, and say to hell with banks.
In other words they want to legalize the theft of money.
they already have mathis its called taxation with no represntation and fica and obama care social security taxes and on and on.
not just federal but state and local.
That is ridiculous ! $600.00 is NOT a huge amount of money, and this would involve MOST Americans if this becomes law. You are going to start seeing a LOT more CASH change hands, if this idiotic plan becomes the law !
I’ve known day workers, who made six hundred, every OTHER DAY for their labor..
Currently transactions over $10,000 need to be reported. The reason this was implemented was to be able to identify illegal activities, particularly drug money laundering, and crack down on those engaging in illegal activity. I have no idea how many illegal activities it uncovered but it sure made it a pain for someone who was buying a car in cash, etc.
A threshold of $600 is a clear and flagrant attempt to see essentially EVERY bank account in the US. My grade school kids have more than $600 in their accounts. I suspect it is a first step in working to institute socialism. If they know what you have they know what they can demand you turn over to the government.
AND when the IRS get’s involved, you can BET, if they implement full on socialism, the IRS WILL BE GIVEN the power, to just SEIZE what’s in your bank, without even TELLING YOU, let alone getting your permission.
Wait until Christmas everyone will be on the list or you have to buy a set of tires for your car
But you can shoplifting over 900.00 dollars in California and no criminal charges. A simple computer cost early over 600.00